The Chocolate Quinoa Protein Bars that Cured My Pop-Tart Addiction

Written by Christine Hein

My name is Christine, and I have a Pop-Tart problem.

Ever since I discovered these accidentally-vegan goodies in the vending machine at law school, I can’t seem to get my dollar in the slot fast enough. That wouldn’t be a big deal every once in awhile, but the vending machine seems to call out my name every time I’m heading to the gym. My banana just looks so blah next to the shimmering strawberry-frosty goodness! And yes—by “goodness,” I’m mean 10% strawberries, 90% flavored corn syrup.

Besides packing extra coins for the vending machine, I’ve also started carrying around ibuprofen. It worked for Matt during his 50-miler, and I count on it for my killer 3:00 headache. But you know when these headaches started? Right about the time I started a daily 40-grams of sugar ritual with these damn Pop-Tarts.

I knew I had to break this sugar-rush-crash-medicate cycle, and vowed to make a batch of my Homemade Energy Bars to satisfy that starchy-sweet craving.

Lo and behold, for maybe the first time in NMA-kitchen history, the pantry was out of beans. Not a legume in sight. But, times of crisis have a knack of spurring creativity—with a deep pantry rummage I pulled together ingredients for some awesome quinoa energy-protein bars.

With over 7 grams of protein per bar (more if you use nuts!) and about a third of the sugar in Pop-Tarts (from energizing dates and agave nectar instead of corn syrup), the case of the addictive pop-tarts is officially closed. Enjoy!

Rinse the dry quinoa in cold water, then let sit in a bowl of water for 10 minutes. In the meantime, bring 1 cup of water to boil. Drain the quinoa and add to the boiling water. Cover, and reduce heat to simmer for about 12 minutes. Let cool enough to handle.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooked quinoa, dates, agave nectar, vegetable oil, flaxseed, almond extract, and salt. Process until relatively smooth (the quinoa is so small it stays slightly lumpy).

In a small bowl, stir together the protein powder, flour, and stir-ins. Fold this dry mixture into wet mixture with a spatula. The dough is very thick, like cookie dough, so use the spatula to press into prepared pan evenly.

Bake for about 22-25 minutes, until firm. Let cool, then slice into a dozen bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

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Comments

I have a poptart addiction!!! All through college I would make pit stops at the vending machine when I was stressed and buy a pack! I could never rationalize buying a box at the grocery store so instead I would race to the vending machine at midnight. Not good. I have decided that nothing good has ever come from a poptart but still…they are good!

Awwwww… poptarts. They will always hold a special place in my heart. One summer when I was in college I ate a poptart and a peach every night for my dinner. Fortunately I’ve moved on to healthier eating. I just made your chocolate quinoa bars and they are delicious! Thanks for a great recipe. Your bars (in the photo) looked like you used chocolate protein powder so I used my chocolate Vega protein. They really turned out great.

I am definitely going to make these… I’ve gotten into eating my morning pastry again and I need to break that! By the way, have you ever cooked anything with amaranth seeds? They’re used for everything from brewing beer to using for rouge for cheeks, but they’re high in protein and other nutrients, and are gluten-free. They can be ground into flour or popped like popcorn. I’ve only recently heard about amaranth but have no idea what it tastes like nor how to cook with it.

Hi Vickie, You can buy amaranth already ground. I think Bob’s Red Mill makes it. I am actually looking for the seeds, which I can’t find. I hear they make an excellant popcorn substitute when popped. Wow, just notices how old thiese posts were. You may be using it already lol.

Its nice to know that I’m not alone out there. I thought I was one of the only marathon runners that had a problem with pop-tarts. Thank you for posting a really healthy alternative to the packaged corn syrup pastries! Can’t wait to make these tomorrow!

Whoa, these sounds great, gonna try these tonight I think. I like the idea of coconut oil and maybe leaving them a bit more bitter and leaving out the agave (too much fructose for me!) but dates themselves are usually enough for these types of brownies!

I made these this past weekend. I loved them and so did my 15 year old son. He still doesn’t know there is quinoa in them. He took three with him to school today to have before his soccer game this afternoon.

This recipe is truly addictive. It takes more like a brownie, but is packed with nutrition. I am sure to make it every week, and I make sure to have one with me at all times, whether at work or school. I am forever grateful to you for this!

Hey, just so you’re aware… the frosted strawberry pop-tarts (Kellogg’s Pop-Tart brand) are actually not vegan at all… the frosting contains gelatin, which is made from animal collagen derived from skin and bones. Depending on your definition of the diet, you might not even consider them to be vegetarian. The unfrosted kind are safe for vegans though, as they don’t contain any gelatin. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. These chocolate quinoa bars are definitely an improvement over pop-tarts though!

Yummy! I just made these and they are delicious. Didn’t have agave so used brown rice syrup, which is less sweet, but then I used sweetened coconut so I think that compensated. Also used chocolate chips, chopped cashews, and threw in a couple Tbsp of cocoa powder because that’s how I roll. Great recipe!

Hahah I had a horribleeee pop tart habit too! Wild berry pop tarts pretty much got me to class every morning in college… then back into bed right after the sugar crash! Love these quinoa bars! I’ve trying to make quinoa a lot more at home, I’ll have to give these a try too!

so i thought i had quinoa on hand, but alas as i already had the food processor ready with the dates, etc. i decided to use amaranth instead. talk about tasting like brownies. i love amaranth and now i love it even more in these bars. thank you for the recipe!

They are in the oven right now, I used coconut flour and spelt in place of protein powder. I had chocolate almond bark that I chopped up added dried apricots,and cranberries. Let you know in a hour how they are.

I’m anti-agave since I’ve read over and over that it’s as bad for you as HFCS (possibly worse) and not a natural sweetener at all. I struggle when I see it in recipes. I’m not a great substituter. Suggestions? I assume leaving it out would make them dry. I am envious of those of you who are so good at experimenting with recipes! This sounds so yummy!

I use maple syrup when I see agave syrup called for in a recipe. (FYI dates are very high in fructose.) Depending on how sweet you like things, the dates might be enough. You probably would need to add some water or milk of choice to compensate for the liquid. (Start with 2 tbsp and increase gradually by tiny bits if the dough seems too dry.)

How I made mine- (sorry, some of the brand names may be unfamiliar to you)

I used quinoa flakes, which has a texture similar to oatmeal. I mixed all the dry ingredients together, using finely chopped almonds and brazils for the ‘stir ins’ . I don’t really use protein powder, but I had a breakfast shake mix called Get Up And Go by Patrick Holford. I din’t have enough dates to hand , so used half dates, half figs. I blitzed them up with some Sweet Freedom honey substitute, some strawberry flavouring instead of the almond extract and the water that meant to cook the quinoa. I added this the dry mixture and cooked as stated.
The verdict ? They turned out fine, but not especially sweet. I don’t particularly have a sweet tooth, but next time I would add more sweetener . I like the idea of using chocolate, but my theory is this- if I’m going to cook with chocolate , I’m going to make a big, fudgy , tooth rottingly sweet cake. If I’m cooking using a nutritious shake mix, I’m content to use fruit/nuts and keep it all wholesome.Hope that make sense! I’ve called my ware, Get Up And Go Breakfast Bars.

I’m wondering how these are chocolate if you don’t use chocolate chips as an add-in. And interested in opinions for what to substitute for protein powder. These look like a good alternative to the bean-based bar recipe. Thanks!

Hey there I baked these tonight! and yes delish but I def. had to make some changes to the recipe.
substituted vegetable oil for coconut oil
The wet mixture was def not enough for the dry mixture in order to make dough so I had a little splash of almond milk to get it to the dough texture.
added cranberries, dark chocolate chunks, cashews, and almonds for the mix-up part
I also put in mango slices after I put the batter into the pan.
I also only baked them for 20 mins (that was plenty i think one more minute and they would have been burned).
They came out great though! SO DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for sharing!

p.s. would be great if you added photos more photos of what the mixtures look like throughout the process (I was doubting myself on the quinoa, flaxseed, oil, etc mixture part).

Just made these with chocolate/coconut/goji berry mix in. I found them to be a bit bland; I think with a little more salt or a hit of almond butter they’d be a little more interesting. Will try that next time around!

These look great! Just wanted to let you know that Pop Tarts are not actually vegan – they have gelatin in the icing. The only ones that were truly vegan were the apple cinnamon ones and they stopped making them!

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